AT long last, the United Nations has acknowledged the long-held view of Pakistan that it is the victim of terrorist attacks sponsored and carried out from the Afghan territory. The 27th report to the UN Security Council by the UN monitoring team responsible for tracking terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS has acknowledged the ongoing efforts of the Pakistan government against elements involved in terrorist activities, while noting that the threat from the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had resulted in over “100 cross-border attacks within three months last year”.
The Pakistan Foreign Office pointed out on Sunday that the UN monitoring report highlighting the presence of various terrorist groups in Afghanistan had vindicated Islamabad’s longstanding position that such outfits posed a direct threat not only to Pakistan but to the entire region. The contents of the report are eye-opener for all those who have unjustifiably been raising accusing fingers towards Pakistan on the issue of terrorism. The report has confirmed “reunification of splinter groups (of TTP)” in Afghanistan, which is also vindication of claims repeatedly made by Pakistan that it has broken back of terrorist groups in the country and that they have fled to safe havens in Afghanistan. This speaks volumes about success of anti-terrorism campaign of Pakistan which has no parallel in the world. It is, however, regrettable that instead of acknowledging Pakistan’s contribution to regional peace, security and stability through a sustained drive against all sorts of terror outfits, some countries of the world, for their vested interests and designs, continue to malign Pakistan on the issue on different occasions and on different pretexts.
The UN report is a confirmation that Pakistan has launched a successful war against terrorism forcing terrorist elements/groups to flee from the country. Ironically, instead of taking action against terrorists that have regrouped on Afghan soil, Pakistan is made the target of uncalled-for propaganda aimed at diverting attention from failure of efforts to deal with these groups on Afghan soil. In fact, Pakistan is now the biggest victim of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan which is aided and abetted by India and the issue was highlighted by Islamabad through a dossier it handed over to the UN Secretary General and other influential members of the international community last year. It may also be pointed out that another report by the Pentagon’s Inspector General for Afghanistan, known by its acronym SIGAR, cites Afghan officials’ judgements that “other terrorist groups including Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Jaish-i-Mohammed, and Lashkar-e-Taiba are operating in eastern Afghanistan”. Under these circumstances, the world community needs to focus attention on uprooting these terrorist outfits from their safe havens as they pose threat not only to Pakistan but also to the entire region and even beyond.
